I absolutely LOVED this book!

I’m a fan of Tudor historical fiction and non-fiction and the story of Amy Robsart is the perfect spark for a writer’s imagination. There is so much that is unknown that a writer has freedom to invent.

This is a very clever dual narrative. Tudor historical characters have invented modern equivalent and history is repeating itself in a very modern way. Instead of the royal court, palaces and banishment to country estates there ate celebrities, careers ruined by paparazzi and Twitter and isolation in luxury apartments.

Lizzie Kingdom is a former child star who has managed her public image perfectly. Her childhood friend Dudley Lester is the ex-boyband tabloid bad boy with a terrible reputation. Her determination to stand by him no matter what leaves her own reputation ruined when his soon to be ex-wife dies is suspicious circumstances.

Dudley’s wife Amelia is a distant relative of Robert Dudley’s wife Amy Robsart who tragically died in 1560 after falling down the stairs. Robert Dudley never escaped the rumours that he had killed her to marry Queen Elizabeth, and it looks like history could be repeating itself.

The dual narrative alternates between Amy is Tudor England and Lizzie in the present day. Their stories seem intertwined but how is that even possible.

Lizzie finds herself drawn to the Robsart family, even when her lawyers and advisors insist she stays away.

She shares a connection with teenager Johnny after a shared strange incident at Amelia and Dudley’s wedding 10 years earlier. If the truth behind Amelia’s death is going to be reveal, Lizzie has to accept things which seem impossible.

I loved the magical elements of this novel. I’m not a fan of fantasy but this is cleverly done. I think the idea that buildings can retain energy is fascinating and Lizzie’s reluctance to believe the truth in what she is experiencing means that the reader goes on the journey with her.

Although infantile and spoiled, Lizzie is self-aware and kind. Her determination to become more independent and shake off the celebrity hangers on and poor advice means that she really develops as a character and is someone the reader cares about.

Both Dudley’s remain selfish and self-absorbed and just vile.

Unlike Elizabeth I, who famously remained unmarried, Lizzie finds a real connection with Amelia’s older brother, Arthur. But there are so many obstacles and they both have painful pasts that could get in the way.

I won’t spoil the ending – but it’s really good!

I found this book thoroughly absorbing. I stayed up far too late to keep reading as I did not want to put it down.

This is one of may favourites of 2020 so far and a definite ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There’s nothing I like better than a good dual timeline mystery and Nicola is one of my favourite authors for this genre.

In The Forgotten Sister the author has taken a real historical mystery and made an intriguing story out if it. I really enjoyed learning more about Amy Robsart and her horrible, callous husband Robert Dudley, particularly as I think there was more to Amy than history has given her credit for. The characters really seem to come to life with real character traits that they were known to have being included into the story. The fact that the modern characters seemed like the historical characters reincarnated was well done and made the story very interesting.

The amount of historical details in this book was brilliant and I enjoyed learning more about Elizabethan England. Amy and Robert were two characters that I hadn’t heard of before so it was especially interesting learning more about their lives and the legacy they left behind. As always it was the little everyday details which made the book for me as I always find it fascinating to see how different life was back then compared to now. I spent a few hours looking up Amy and Robert on the internet and learning more about her mysterious death.

I was engrossed in this story from the start and found the book very hard to put down. It isn’t immediately clear what the links between the two timelines are and I enjoyed trying to work out how they were connected. The supernatural element of the story was a nice touch and helped add an unusual element to the story as it was done in a very believable way.

Huge thanks to HQ for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

It's been a while since I've read an historical novel, and I was looking forward to losing myself in a tale from the Tudors. I'm also quite partial to a well done timeslip, and was intrigued by the references to psychometry in the modern day, so all the signs were good.

I enjoyed this novel, it is historically accurate ( which is to be expected as the author is a historian) and readable, with interesting characters . Although I found it a bit slow to get into, towards the end I speeded up to find out what happened. A few twists and unexpected turns later the majority of loose ends tied up..except those that couldn't be.

The story did intrigue me, though it was only towards the end, in spite of the characters' names being heavily signposted, that the two stories seem to really come together. I felt as though I knew more about Amy than Lizzie, probably because Amy is written in the first person, and I felt that it was Amy's story that Nicola Cornick really wanted to tell. The final reveal although not totally unexpected was unsettling, and I found the epilogue really quite moving

I think you have to know your history to fully appreciate the way Cornick has melded fact and fiction to create this dual timeline story, although to be fair the majority of readers will have heard, read or seen something about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart.

In 1560 we see Amy embark upon what will be a short-lived marriage with Robert Dudley, which culminates in her untimely death. A suspicious death that becomes a barrier between Elizabeth and Robert. With the suspicion of murder hanging over him he is no longer considered a possible match for her majesty, although I would argue that she would never have forfeited an inch of power by marrying any man.

Elizabeth I was driven by her need to be in control of her own destiny, perhaps because it was so often in uncertainty as a child. After the tyrannical behaviour of her father and his obsession with women and a male heir - it is ironic and poetic justice that the daughter of Anne Boleyn reigned with such determination.

In the present day the tragic past is mirrored in the lives of Lizzie, Dudley and Amelia. It's more than that though, somewhere along the line Lizzie is connecting to the past, perhaps to someone or something lingering and waiting for justice.

It's historical fiction - a dual timeline murder mystery with a ghostly vibe. Cornick certainly captures the right elements of both modern mystery and historical fiction to create a compelling read.

From Harry Kingdom, Annie Bowling to Lizzie and Bill aka the advisor formerly known as William Cecil, it's all incredibly clever and entertaining. Then again maybe I just found it particularly amusing because I enjoy reading about that period in history. This would also be a great way of teaching children history by creating a modern equivalent they can relate to.

It's a captivating read, a fascinating combination of multiple genres, which I think will draw in quite a lot of readers.

I don’t usually read historical fiction but The Forgotten Sister’s blurb enticed me.

The book is based on the actual historical mystery of the death of Amy Robsart so we actually get a bit of a history lesson mixed with fiction.
The story jumps from the 1500s and Amy Rosbart’s POV to present day and Lizzie Kingdom’s POV.

I think because it wasn’t all set in the past that the story really pulled me in. The author weaves a brilliant web of mystery and we begin to see how the two eras interlace. Another thing that thoroughly gripped me was Lizzie and her Psychometry, this absolutely fascinated me.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself so engrossed in the story that i couldn’t put it down. The author has done a fantastic job of solving (albeit fictionally) a mystery from history. The book flawlessly jumps from past to present and back again. I’m a little bit in awe of the entire story and this certainly won’t be the last historical romance that I read. If you are like me and don’t usually read historical but would like to give it a go The Forgotten Sister is a perfect book to start on to ease you in! Five stars!

With thanks to Netgalley and Blogger HQ for the advanced review copy.

I loved the dual stories in this book as we alternate between Tudor times and the story of Amy Robsart and the present day Lizzie Kingdom. This book captivated me from the start as well as throwing light on a period of Elizabethan history that is in itself fascinating. This book is superbly written, highly imaginative and I loved every second of it.

Ok I went into this book with absolutely no idea what I was gong to expect. I have been in a bit of a slump BUT this book got me out of it. I haven’t read many historical fiction books and I have to say this was written so well I had read it within two sittings.

Nicola Cornick blends the past and the future seamlessly within this book and I was able to enjoy both the past and the present. Both characters were real enough that you couldn’t help but feel for both of them. I will say that I preferred Amy Robsart character more than Lizzie, but I honestly think this was because you got to know more about her.

So the book is about Amy Robsart who is living in stressful times where, one Monarch replaces the other and everyone is out for what they can get. I really enjoyed her chapters, it not only gave me a little insight to the history of the monarch (yes I am aware this is a work of fiction) but her emotions were captivated and I felt that I could feel them.

Lizzie is our modern day female character. She hasn’t had the best life, I mean she is a celebrity but that doesn’t mean she is happy. Everyone around her is out for what they can get and not really taking into account what she wants or how she is feeling. She is strong and you can’t help but like her the more the book progresses.

The different perspectives are told form Amy Robsart and Lizzie Kingdoms point of view. YOu see the lead up to Amy’s death and how she passes, the thing is this is echoing in the future and tragedy strikes Lizzie. Even though it was slightly easy to find out who the killer is I didn’t mind. I loved the complexity of politics in the 1500s and how this impacted everyone and how the future was shaped.

 This book is different, I mean we transport from past to present but they are interlinked. I like that the characters all have a link to one another and that as you read further you start picking up on this. The added bonus of this book is the fantasy element, of psychometry, it added an extra element to the book that was enjoyable and wholly different to a historical fiction.

Nicola Cornick’s style of writing was easy to read and I was able to follow the storyline from past to future without any problem. I also liked the characters, all of them were different and felt that they had enough back story for me to understand them.

Overall a really good historical fiction book that will have me reaching for more books like this.

This story rooted in historical fact weaves a tale of ambition, deceit, love and the paranormal, which engages and informs. The ultimate betrayal in the Tudor times, echoes over the centuries, with a series of tragic consequences.

Based on the mystery surrounding the death of Amy Robsart, the circumstances of her marriage, are explored, amid the intrigue of the Tudor court. In the present day, there is a suspicious death of another Amy, whose marriage was in tatters. Lizzie running away from a media scandal reconnects with Johnny, who is sure she has a historical link to the present tragedy.

Intricately woven contemporary and historical storylines enlivened with complex characters and authentic settings, make this an addictive story.

I received a copy of this book from HQ in return for an honest review.

I would like to thank Sian Baldwin at HQ for asking me to be apart of the blog tour for The Forgotten Sister.
As soon as I read the blurb for this book I knew I had to read it. I love a story that features the Tudors and like Nicola Cornick whose Grandma had books on the Tudors, I love nothing more than watching the amazing TV series or reading historical books and wishing I could be apart of that era.
The Forgotten Sister is set in the present day and in 1560. In 1560 we follow Amy Robsart who is married to Robert Dudley who is Queen Elizabeth favourite and he is besotted with her. Amy wants freedom and a life of her own and decided to escape..moving forward in time in the present day we meet Lizzie Kingdom who is a celebrity has to escape the public eye due to scandal, on meeting the Robsart family a completely unexpected journey takes place.
I was completely hooked from the first page and I was excited by the fact that I did not know where this story was going to go. I loved Lizzie and her complex history and I adored Amy, the links between the past and present day were so cleverly written. The Tudor era sounded so real and as believable as present day London.
Nicola Cornick has just become one of my favourite authors and I am excited to read more books by her.

I loved this book. The story is set in 2 time periods which are linked by tragedy. I liked the idea of time travel and trying to put right past events. All of this made a really interesting memorable story.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick is a marvellous time-slip novel that has its roots in fact. The story has two time periods – 1550’s and present day. Actual historical figures are within the tale including Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley. They were both familiar to me as a historian.
The novel is an exciting read as both stories run parallel, causing the reader to read with heart racing. As the action flows, we are powerless to prevent the conclusion.
I loved the characters. They were well drawn and realistic. The leading ladies were very likable and easy to empathise with. A couple of characters elicited feelings of dislike as my emotions were guided by the pen of Nicola Cornick.
I was familiar with many of the locations. It gave me a thrill to read of Hales Owen in Worcestershire, as we actually go to Lifecentral, a church in Halesowen.
I always love Nicola Cornick’s novels. They thrill, entertain and educate me. I can never put them down (except to sleep!)
The Forgotten Sister is a fabulous read that I can highly recommend.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

What a brilliant story !Told in two time lines from 1500,s to present day ,beautifully written,it tells the story of Amy Robsart who is married to Robert Dudley in Tudor times entwining it so cleverly with present day characters.The past is told through Amy and the present through Lizzie Kingdom.I really loved the ending .Many thanks to the Publishers the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

This is a duel timeline story that's told from the 16th century Tudor times and the present day. It centres around the mysterious death of Amy Robsart. Amy was married to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

Dudley Lester and Amelia Robstart are set to divorce. But she's found dead at the bottom of the stairs. The same way Amy had been found centuries ago.

This ook had a duel timeline that blends Historical and modern day stories. It revolves around the mysterious death of Amy Robsart. The past is told from Amy's perspective whilst the present is told by Lizzie Kingdom. I did find the story hard to get into as the pace was a bit slow and confusing. But once I got into it I really enjoyed it. Theres quite a lot of characters to try and remember. This is an intriguing and thought provoking read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HQ and the author Nicola Cornick for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A book of two halves, the first timeline is Tudor England, and deals with the life and mysterious death of Amy Robsart, the unloved and left at home wife of Lord Robert Dudley, an aristocratic member of the court of Queen Elizabeth, and rumoured to be a lover of the " Virgin Queen".
The death of Amy Robsart has been a genuine mystery, and this book gives a most unusual and also, quite plausible explanation of her demise. It also shows the misfortunes that can occur when you are married for your family wealth , are childless and live far away from the excitement of court life, in rural Norfolk. The historical research is excellent, and I have learnt much from this account, and have actually visited some of these areas, many years ago.
The present day story, in my opinion lets the book down. The modern day characters mirror almost exactly those in Tudor days, which I found very annoying, and felt very forced and contrived. They are not a likeable bunch, being shallow and egotistical, but I suppose that is representative of modern society. The supernatural element of the story was interesting, but a little too over the top for my liking. I found it very atmospheric but I felt it was added only as a prop to the story, which was a great shame. A good writer doesn't need such obvious contrivances to bring all strands of an otherwise fascinating story together. If it had just concentrated upon the story of Amy Robsart, it would have been a fascinating alternative to the accepted ideas about her death. The story only became interesting after chapter 15, in my viewpoint, which is a lot of writing to plough through, whilst getting annoyed about how the names of one timeline were introduced to modern times.
I was disappointed by this book. I have read others by this author and really enjoyed them. An interesting first timeline, but the second one was not to my taste.
I have rated this as a three star read. I will leave feedback on Goodreads. Thank you for my advance copy, this review is all my own thoughts.

This brilliant book grips you from the very first page
A duel story line set in the reign of Elizabeth 1 and present day with a little touch of time slip added in.
At first you don’t realise how the two story lines resolve but you will not be disappointed with the end. Very satisfying read cannot recommend it enough

The Forgotten Sister is a dual timeline novel split between the sixteenth century and the present day. It centres around the mystery surrounding the death of Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. His cruel treatment of his wife, and the ruthless ambition fuelling his desire to be the partner of Queen Elizabeth 1, makes him a thoroughly despicable character.
In the present day, Dudley Lester, a member of the boy band Call Back Summer, is married to Amelia Robsart and they are on the verge of divorce. She is found dead at the bottom of the stairs just like Amy all those centuries before. Dudley had been spending far too much time with his childhood friend, Lizzie Kingdom, and the ensuing scandal forces her to flee. A bit late in the day, she has come to realise that the people she has surrounded herself with do not have her best interests at heart; to them she is just a commodity to be exploited. Lizzie is alone among the characters in the modern part of the story to change for the better. This is fortunate as she was not very likeable at the beginning.
I found this book quite slow to get going; it was not obvious what the connection between the two strands of the story was until about a third of the way in (or maybe this was just me). This was not helped by the fact that the modern-day characters were particularly vain and shallow, and it was hard to care what happened to them.
The story is told from the alternating points of view of Amy and Lizzie. The sixteenth-century strand is well researched and full of fascinating historical detail. The supernatural element is done with a light touch, lending an extra dimension to the narrative. The characters are well written and believable. Overall, this is a gripping and atmospheric story that you won’t be able to put down.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to invest in this duel time line book, possible because of the many characters, but probably because i was reading in small chunks. As soon as i spent long sessions with the novel, i found i could not put it down!
the death of Dudley's wife, Amy Robsart, in Tudor times, has had historians intrigued for many years and this fascinating novel has put its own spin on events. from a modern day triangle of Dudley,Lizzie and Am Amelia to the Elizabeth triangle of Amy, Earl of Dudley and Elizabeth 1..

Forgotten family members from both eras play important roles in this fascinating novel.

Oh my word what an absolutely brilliant book this is. From the first chapter I was hooked on this story, just wonderful

Two stories, six centuries apart, intertwine chapter by chapter, weaving a powerful tale of love and spite. We learn that Amy Robsart’s marriage to Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite, is a troubled and sad relationship as far as Amy is concerned and she knows also that she has little support as Robert’s entourage car nothing for her. Can her only chance of happiness be to flea, but can she get away?

Running parallel we get to know Lizzie Kingdom, a celebrity whose close friendship with Dudley Lester leads to trouble and scandal, brought on even more so when Johnny Robsart, who she first met at Dudley’s wedding to Amelia Robsart, re-appears in her life. Lizzie’s psychic powers lead her to look deeper into the Robsart’s ancestry and the more she learns the more she needs to find out the truth, but can she, and can Amy ever find peace?

Nicola Cornick has written a hard to put down novel, carefully woven around one of history’s great mysteries. I couldn’t put this book dow

Part historical,part modern ,the characters from the present mirror the characters from the past. Can the curse be broken.?